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北京第二外国语学院

2013年硕士研讨生入学考试试卷

考试类别：211 翻译硕士英语 满分：100分

考试阐明：请将答案写在指定答题纸上，若答在试卷上，则该科成果无效。

part i. vocabulary and grammar (30 points)

multiple-choice

directions: beneath each sentence there are four words or phrases marked a, b, c and d. choose the answer that best completes the sentence. mark your answers on your answer sheet.

1. _______ the criticism, i shall attempt to justify my action.

a) mindful of b) awkward of c) ignorant of d) shy on

2. different people have the most ___________ ideas about what is important in life.

a) versatile b) vague c) verbal d) varied

3. brook has been baldwin’s most dangerous and _______ adversary for many years.

a) conservative b) considerate c) considerable d) consistent

4. that was a terrible piece of work you ___________the other day. i could hardly believe it was yours.

a) turn downed b) turned to c) turned up d) turned in

5. the enemy are ___________ their offensive capacity along the border.

a) building on b) building up c) building out d) building off

6. success or failure here would be crucial to his future ________.

a) proposals b) prospects c) promises d) privileges

7. they _______ to the public taste for sentimental plays.

a) satisfy b) cater c) provide d) supply

8. it must have ________ him unconscious for a considerable period.

a) rendered b) grew c) took d) turned

9. what would you do if you faced a carefully premeditated and carefully _____crime?

a) presided b) administered c)mastered d)executed

10. the plans for a new airport have been scrapped ________ an extension to the old one.

a) in line with b) in place of c) in honor of d) in favor of

11. i am well aware that we all _________ to one stereotype or another.

a) adhere b) conform c) reflect d) satisfy

12. the labor union_______ a 35-hour week in order to create more jobs.

a) sponsors b) advocates c) contributes d)performs

13. i should hate to be__________ within the four walls of an office all day.

a) limited b) restricted c) confined d) restrained

14. ________ him as a writer, i do not like him as a man.

a) as i much admire b) much as i admire

c) much admire as i d) however i much admire

15. _________ interesting to us, but also i

ts english will help us in composition.

a) not only the novel will be b) not only will the novel be

c) not only will be the novel d) only will the novel be

16. cultural ________ indicates that human beings hand their languages down from one generation to another.

a) translation b) transition c) transmission d) transaction.

17. we must look beyond ________ and assumptions and try to discover what is missing.

a) justifications b) illusions c) manifestations d) specifications

18. no one imagined that the apparently ________ businessman was really a criminal.

a) respective b) respectable c) respectful d) realistic

19. if nothing is done to protect the environment, millions of species that are alive today will have become ________.

a) deteriorate b) degenerated c) suppressed d) extinct

20. the ________ of the scientific attitude is that the human mind can succeed in understanding the universe.

a) essence b) texture c) content d) threshold

21. the old lady has developed a ________ cough which cannot be cured completely in a short time.

a) perpetual b) permanent c) chronic d) sustained

22. what the correspondent sent us is an ________ news report. we can depend on it.

a) evident b) authentic c) ultimate d) immediate

23. having had her as a professor and adviser, i can tell you that she is an ________ force who pushes her students to excel far beyond their own expectations.

a) inspirational b) educational c) excessive d) instantaneous

24. some researchers feel that certain people have nervous systems particularly ________ to hot, dry winds. they are what we call weather sensitive people.

a) subjective b) subordinate c) liable d) vulnerable

25. hurricanes are killer winds, and their ________ power lies in the physical damage they can do.

a) cumulative b) destructive c) turbulent d) prevalent

26. in some countries, students are expected to be quiet and ________ in the class.

a) skeptical b) faithful c) obedient d) subsidiary

27. in spite of the ________ economic forecasts, manufacturing output has risen slightly.

a) gloomy b) miserable c) shadowy d) obscure

28. body paint or face paint is used mostly by men in preliterate societies in order to attract good health or to ________ disease.

a) set aside b) ward off c) shrug off d) give away

29. the international situation has been growing ________ difficult for the last few years.

a) invariably b) presumably c) increasingly d) dominantly

30. the prisoner was ________ of his civil liberty for three years.

a) discharged b) derived c) deprived d) dispatched

part ii reading comprehension (40 points)

section 1 multiple-choice (20 points)

directions: in this section there are reading passages followed by multiple-choice questions. read the passages and then mark your answers on your answer sheet.

passage a

it is often claimed that nuclear energy is something we cannot do without. we live in a consumer society where there is an enormous demand for commercial products of all kinds. moreover, an increase in industrial production is considered to be one solution to the problem of mass unemployment. such an increase presumes an abundant and cheap energy supply. many people believe that nuclear energy provides an inexhaustible and economical source of power and that it is therefore essential for an industrially developing society. there are a number of other advantages in the use of nuclear energy. firstly, nuclear power, except for accidents, is clean. a further advantage is that a nuclear power station can be run and maintained by relatively few technical and administrative staff. the nuclear reactor represents an enormous step in our scientific evolution and, whatever the anti-nuclear group says, it is wrong to expect a return to more primitive sources of fuel. however, opponents of nuclear energy point out that nuclear power stations bring a direct threat not only to the environment but also to civil liberties.

furthermore, it is questionable whether ultimately nuclear power is a cheap source of energy. there have, for example, been very costly accidents in america, in britain and, of course, in russia. the possibility of increases in the cost of uranium in addition to the cost of greater safety provisions could price nuclear power out of the market. in the long run, environmentalists argue, nuclear energy wastes valuable resources and disturbs the ecology to an extent which could bring about the destruction of the human race. thus, if we wish to survive, we cannot afford nuclear energy. in spite of the case against nuclear energy outlined above, nuclear energy programs are expanding. such an expansion assumes a continual growth in industrial production and consumer demands. however, it is doubtful whether this growth will or can continue. having weighed up the arguments on both sides, it seems there are good economic and ecological reasons for sources of energy other than nuclear power.

31. the advocates of nuclear energy claim that nuclear energy is _________________.

a) extremely dangerous

b) vital in our society

c) exhaustible and expensive

d) primitive and cheap

32. some people think that nuclear energy is essential because _________________.

a) there is a serious shortage of manpower

b) it is impossible to return to more primitive sources of fuel

c) it provides a perfect solution to mass unemployment

d) it can meet the growing demand of an industrially developing society

33. which of the following statements does the writer support?

a) the demand for commercial products will not necessarily keep increasing.

b) uranium is a good source of energy for economic and ecological reasons.

c) nuclear energy provides an inexhaustible and economical source of power.

d) greater safety provisions can bring about the expansion of nuclear energy programs.

34. the function of the last sentence is to ______________.

a) reflect the writer’s attitude

b) reverse previously expressed thoughts

c) advance the final argument

d) show the disadvantages of nuclear power

35. what is the writer’s attitude toward nuclear energy?

a) indifferent.

b) favorable.

c) tolerant.

d) critical.

passage b

tawnya geisbush wakes up every day fighting two battles － one against breast cancer, the other against her insurance company. it’s hard to say which is the more stubborn opponent.

geisbush, 32, a veterinarian from phoenix, arizona, was recently found to be suffering from metastatic breast cancer. eventually she and her doctors agreed they should attack the advancing cancer with what many people believe is the most effective weapon available: high-dose chemotherapy accompanied by a transplant of stem cells.

no sooner did she steel herself for the procedure, however, than her insurer, the trustmark insurance cooperation, made things more complicated. since the $90,000 treatment was still considered experimental, qualification for coverage was not legally allowed under the terms of trustmark’s policy. “whether it’s a $100,000 charge or a $10 charge, we make our decisions based on that contract language,” says lloyd sarrel, trustmark’s assistant vice president for benefits. geisbush, understandably, has bigger things than contracts on her mind. “i’m in a fight for my life,” she says. “i shouldn’t be having this fight with the insurance company.”

geisbush is not alone. in the past decade, more than 12,000 american women have taken their chances with transplant therapy, in many cases only after battling their insurers to make sure the bills got paid. lately, public opinion － plus a few multimillion-dollar lawsuits － had begun to change that. ten states require insurers to cover transplants; most health plans elsewhere in the u.s. － seeing which way the legislative wind was blowing － have decided to go along too. patients know, however, that a company that makes up its mind to offer coverage can later change it, and that laws requiring loss or damage compensation can always be rewritten.

that’s why cancer advocates and the insurance industry were so anxiously awaiting last week’s release of the most definitive studies yet undertaken to evaluate the treatment. the news, on its face, was not good. transplant therapy, the studies suggest, may not improve survival odds any more than traditional therapy. the findings, however, are preliminary, and further study may overturn them altogether. so far all that is certain is that an already heated debate will get hotter still and that patients who want the therapy are not giving up hope. “with this treatment, “ says geisbush, “at least some people have survived.”

36. trustmark insurance cooperation refuses to pay the bill for transplant therapy because the treatment ____________.

a) costs too much money

b) has proved to be ineffective

c) is still considered experimental

d) is still illegal

37. from what geisbush says, we can infer that ____________.

a) she feels sympathetic to lloyd sarrel

b) she will refuse to sign any contract with the insurance company

c) the most important thing for her is to fight against her disease

d) it is meaningless to fight with the insurance company

38. according to the passage, most health plans in the u.s. have decided to __________.

a) offer coverage of transplant therapy

b) sue those women who took their chances with transplant therapy

c) offer coverage first and then change it later

d) force the government to rewrite laws requiring insurers to cover transplants

39. the evaluation studies suggest that transplant therapy __________.

a) has harmful side effects

b) is no more effective than traditional therapy

c) is the most effective weapon to attack cancer

d) greatly improves the chance of survival

40. according to the passage, it is certain that _________.

a) the findings of the studies will be overturned altogether

b) patients who want the therapy won’t change their mind

c) more patients will be treated with transplant therapy

d) the public will become less interested in transplant therapy

section 2 answering questions (20 points)

directions: read the following passages and then answer in complete sentences the questions which follow each passage. use only information from the passage you have just read and write your answer in the corresponding space in your answer sheet.

passage c

earthquakes may rightly be ranked as one of the most devastating forces known to man: since records began to be written down, it has been estimated that earthquake-related fatalities have numbered in millions, and that earthquake-related destruction has been beyond calculation. the greater part of such damage and loss of life has been due to collapse of buildings and the effects of rockslides, floods, fire, disease, sea waves, and other phenomena resulting from earthquakes, rather than from the quakes themselves.

the great majority of all earthquakes occur in two specific geographic areas. one such area encompasses pacific ocean and its contiguous land masses. the other extends from the east indies to the atlas mountains, including the himalayas, iran, turkey, and the alpine regions. it is in these two great belts or zones that ninety percent of all earthquakes take place; they may, however, happen anywhere at any time.

this element of the unknown has for centuries added greatly to the dread and horror surrounding earthquakes, but in recent times there have been indications that earthquake prediction may be possible. by analyzing changes in animal behavior, patterns of movements in the earth’s crust, variations in the force of gravity and the earth’s magnetic field, and the frequency with which minor earth tremors are observed, scientists have shown increasing success in anticipating when and where earthquakes will strike. as a result, a worldwide earthquake warning network is already in operation and has helped to prepare for (and thus lessen) the vast destruction that might otherwise have been totally unexpected.

it is doubtful that man will ever be able to control earthquakes and eliminate their destructiveness altogether, but as how and why earthquakes happen become better understood, man will become more and more able to deal with their potential devastation before it occurs.

41. what does the word “contiguous” (line 2, paragraph 2) most probably mean?

42. what is the author’s attitude toward the possibility of earthquake prediction?

43. what has added greatly to the dread and horror surrounding earthquakes?

passage d

in the united states today, nearly half of us live in areas that we refer to as the suburbs. any dictionary will define the suburbs as those areas, usually residential, that lie outside cities and towns. but, for millions of americans in the last thirty years, the suburbs have come to mean much more than that.

for those who moved to the developing suburbs after the second world war, they represented an escape from urban congestion to a home of ones own － preferably one with an attached two-car garage － on a little half acre of tree-shaded land. it also meant daily commutation to work by railroad or expressway, a lawn to mow, and a mortgage to pay off over the years.

nobody approves of life in the suburbs but the people who live there. urban critics argue that suburbanites enjoy all the cultural, educational, and commercial advantages that cities offer without paying for them. farmers worry about losing their farms to uncontrolled suburban sprawl. the suburbs have also been criticized for the monotonous sameness of their design and for their ability to insulate their inhabitants from the problems of the larger society in which they live.

on the other hand, defenders of the suburbs argue that the life-style that they offer is more varied and more inclusive than the critics admit: there are many different kinds of suburbs and a variety of people living in them. while the development of the suburbs has created problems, it has also provided substantial modern housing for millions of people. suburban living offers the best of two worlds － the city and the country － at a price that many are able to afford.

many people will always prefer the hectic pace and excitement of life in the city, while others will want the more tranquil pace of life in the country. but, for those in either city or country who are willing to compromise, the suburbs are waiting.

44. what do suburbs represent for millions of americans?

45. what is the biggest advantage of living in the suburbs according to defenders of the suburbs?

part iii. writing (30 points)

though texting is a valuable way of communicating, some people spend too much time sending messages by phone instead of interacting with others face to face. write a composition of about 400 words to explain why you agree or disagree with this observation.